Page 98 of Italy and Forever

Ginny wasn’t anything like Annie. Even his own feelings were entirely different. He just wasn’t at all certain of hers. She was staring at him as though trying to read his mind. If she could, she might have got a shock.

‘I’m not here to talk about that,’ she said with a sigh. ‘Shall we go? We don’t have much time.’

When he’d manoeuvred his suitcase into her tiny boot and they’d got on the road, he racked his brain for something to say that wasn’t, ‘Ask me to stay,’ or ‘I love you.’

She broke the silence first. ‘I saw the photos. Thank you. They’re amazing. I love… them.’

He stared at her, trying to work out if her choice of words might have been intentional. ‘I hoped… you would.’

She kept talking, her voice soft and high. ‘It kind of blew my mind, how you captured me on camera.’

Heat blossomed in his chest to hear she’d understood exactly what he’d been trying to tell her. ‘That’s how you are, Ginny,’ he said softly. ‘At least, that’s how I see you.’

She kept her eyes on the road, but colour came to her cheeks and spread to those gorgeous ears.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going to Canada.’

That got her attention. As much as it scared him, this was the conversation they needed to have.

‘You had a right to be angry,’ he began. ‘At first, I didn’t think you’d care. We were never… friends before. Not really. And we agreed that it wasn’t anything serious. I told Andreas on the Friday and that night I should have told you. But by that stage, I… knew subconsciously that there were feelings involved already – my feelings – and telling you would hurt.’

He’d started examining his reasons for applying for the job and what he’d come back with scared him. He was on a knife-edge here, trying not to get his hopes up that this conversation could be anything other than closure.

‘I am sorry,’ he said firmly. ‘You deserved to know.’

‘Thank you. I needed to hear that,’ she mumbled, her voice wobbly. ‘And I’m sorry you saw me dancing with Laurie right after we fought. It wasn’t on purpose. It just happened.’

She sounded so pained, there was no way he’d be able to hold it against her. ‘I understand. It’s okay.’

She deflated with her deep sigh of relief. ‘You know, I spoke to my dad last night – about Mum. My real mum.’

The tension left him as his own concerns faded into the background for a moment. ‘I hope it was what you needed?’

‘Yeah.’ She nodded. ‘I was definitely using dating to paper over that feeling of loss in my life, but I’m done with that. I’m not half a soul, just a bruised and broken one.’

Her words reminded him of her wedding speech, how vibrant she’d been that night.

‘I’m glad you can be… content now.’

And maybe that was what she was meant to be in his life – something beautiful and fleeting, a moment of healing. He’d find a way to accept that, in time. Here was his closure. He’d brought something good into her life and she’d briefly lit up his. She would go and spread her wings and find her fate, while he made what he could out of the pieces.

His throat was tight and no matter how fiercely he tried to convince himself this goodbye was neater and easier than the wrenching one after the wedding, he wasn’t sure he believed it.

Far too quickly, she was taking the left turn towards the terminal, a plane taking off in the background an awful reminder of what they were doing here. She obviously knew her way around the airport, which made sense with her job. She followed the signs for the short stay car park.

‘You can just drop me off. You don’t have to park.’ They’d have ten minutes. That was enough to make sure he didn’t blurt out any nonsense that would make her feel guilty.

She gulped and gripped the wheel, staying on course for the car park. ‘I’m coming in with you.’ Something in her tone reminded him of the moment she’d told him, ‘I can’t help thinking that I’d be much harder to get rid of.’ But they were at the airport. She’d delivered him here. She wouldn’t have done that if she thought there could be some future for them.

He didn’t reply. He didn’t say a thing, even when she parked – very poorly – a long way from the terminal and he had to drag his case over what felt like a mile of concrete before they reached the entrance.

Inside the sliding doors, he glanced at her again, not sure why she was still here or how long she planned to stay. He was looking forward to some private misery where he could wallow in how much he loved her. ‘Are you…? I’ll just check in my bag.’

‘Uh—’ That choked-off gurgle of distress made him pause. When he peered back at her, her shoulders were wooden and her eyes huge. Then she hurled herself at him, clinging arms and a face pressed to his chest. One fist closed in his jacket.

‘Whoa.’ One arm curled around her. He couldn’t have stopped it. He wished she didn’t feel so much like his soulmate when she was letting him go.

‘I don’t want to let you go,’ she mumbled, as though she’d heard him.